Minorities and Low Income Americans Did Not Cause This Financial Crisis.

Who in the world is saying that crap to you? You need to hang out with different people. I thought everyone knew it was all our jobs going overseas and big oil that's causing the problems as well as greedy realtors and bankers. Minorities comprise all the different levels: Rich, Middle Class, and Poor The only low income people that are a problem are the ones that cheat the system or don't try to get a job. There aren't very many of them. Most get caught over time. Many low income people can't work because of injuries or are underpaid because just about all the jobs now are minimum wage. There are a few in NY State that milk the system by getting pregnant every three years so they don't have to work, but NY is starting to get after them to make the fathers pay. I've been poor, and I've been middle class (I'd like to try rich on for size, but haven't been there yet). There are wonderful hard working people in every group. My relatives come in all colors. The only group that is a problem is lazy and won't work so keep playing the system. There aren't enough of those to cause the downfall of the USA. I tried to buy a house as a single person (I'm married now) and I had to fight my realtor and banker. They both wanted me to have a thousand dollar a month payment on my mortgage. Every person who didn't fight and went with the most they could get is also partially to blame. I'm fiesty and I remember the 70s. You can suddenly have half the amount of money or no work or little work suddenly. But lots of people don't know that or don't care. So my Mortgage was under 500 a month, now over because of taxes. But not by much. There are many factors that are leading to our problems but the Free Trade Act, greed, ignorance, Americans carrying too much debt, an Oil crisis as well as a few lazy louts are causing the problem. During the depression, the stock market which wasn't real and the dust bowl were problems. During Enron, there was fake stock going on there and a lot of elderly lost their life savings. My future retirement only took a small hit. Lazy comes from spoiling people rotten. I was the only person over 30 years old that showed up for a job that was supposed to have 12 people. All the rest said they would come, but turned over and went to sleep. Another time, I was the only person over 30 to show up. Why? First group Mommy and Daddy will help them, they don't want to work. Second group, my husband earns the money, I don't really have to go. Meanwhile these places needed someone to box stuff up so orders would get out. I'm surprised we don't have shortages because of lazy and my whoever makes the money will pay my way and I don't have to go pack boxes today. Sorry about going on and on, but the temporary jobs, you really see what's going on in your area.

Lloyd, have you not been listening to the news? This mess started back with Carter's administration. He set the way for banks to be pressured to make loans to people who could not afford them. Can't blame the people, but the government and banks.Then, it happened again in Clinton's administration, so please let's not be so hard on the Bush administration that was handed the mess! I get tired of people blaming all on the president and his administration. You sound like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid! AND they've been in charge for two years and did NOTHING, absolutely nothing, although they were warned. They had to wait until it was on us before doing anything,then had to be asked by the President so they could blame it on HIS administration.

I agree with you about what is causing these problems with the market. I think way too many greedy people are playing games with the stock market and the banks. But, I never would have ever thought anyone blaming this crisis on the average middle class or low-income American and I haven't heard anyone at all blaming minorities.

Low income and minorities didn't cause the crisis, banks and loaning institutions being forced to take on more high risk loans than they were financially able to obsorb is what caused this crisis.

Preach on! We have a small business. We have had to make some changes to keep our heads above water. Customers want to furnish their own parts. Okay, that's fine but I can't warrantee cheap parts. You furnished it, it still makes noise, I tried to warn you, it's as is. You want to save money, do it right the first time. We had some neighbors next to the shop that were making more money than we ever thought about by living off the system. Disability checks, checks for having all those children, etc. All they do is party it away, go pawn something, get a check in, get it back from the pawn shop, and around again we go. I've seen people whom really need the help get turned away. People whom would spend the money to care for their children, buy groceries, pay bills. It makes me nuts. Then we have the people coming in fussing about the immigrants taking all the jobs. Let me tell you, the people complaining would take that job if it was the only job in town. Okay, we could get into the taxation nonsense. All I'm saying is I am doing the best I can. I am honest and fair. I didn't cause the problem. I'm not greedy. I just want to make ends meet without playing musical bills. Seems to me instead of foreclosing on so many houses, working with the people would mean the home was saved, the banks still got paid, people could breathe. Extend the loan a year, and lower the payment a little. If we at least tried there would be less people whose life and credit was messed up. Even bank employees are losing jobs. What did they expect would happen.

Thank goodness there is another smart American out there. While I was listening to the liberal radio station last night the host Mark his last name slips me currently, he said something about how this situtation was not brought on by the black bus driver that bought a million dollar home that he couldn't afford. His guest was the chair of the economics department at Howard and he also agreed to that and went on to say that what helped this crisis along was people refinancing their homes because income levels were not keeping up with inflation leaving many unable to pay their way in life unless they refinanced. I swear though that if I heard McCain blame Obama one more time I'm going to slap my television so hard that McCain will feel it LOL.

I agree with you in this because I know I didn't have a hand in causing the downfall. I am poor as a church mouse. I don't have any debt though either. Poor people don't go get big loans that they wouldn't ever even in their lifetime begin to even pay off the interest to the loan nobody who lives from low income paycheck to low income paycheck would do so. So if they are looking for scapegoats maybe they should try looking in the mirror sometime.

Totally 100% agree with this one. And to think they think this Rescue is going to help them. What? Cause more people to have to eventually foreclose, loose jobs, etc. To me, this rescue idea is not going to help the Lower Income people. We are being pushed out of the thoughts of ever owning homes, etc. and they always continue to think everything is our fault. Unfortunately, I am not sure what it will take to change things. Like everyone has said, it could be 10 yrs. or more for things to ever recover some for the Good if it is not too late. All I can say, it is time for change, and it can never come anytime too soon.

"Minorities and Low Income Americans Did Not Cause This Financial Crisis." Where did you hear that? I have NEVER heard the blame being put there in fact just the opposite. I think the greedy fat cat cats who run our country are to blame and all normal Americans, which to me, are middle class and low income minorities are the ones who will suffer.

No, if it's mortgage then low income people can't cause this crisis A lot of people want a home, therefore there is always demand for a house or apartment, a place to live in with or without family There are high priced and low priced houses, the banks and govt supposed to prevent people to get what they can't afford down the line by not giving mortgages for low income to get high priced houses this is for their own good, so that they can bring money home rather having nothing left after paying bills and so that when the rate goes up they won't lose the house beacuse they can't afford it anymore I don't make much money at all, of course I would want big house, but if the bank or govt doesn't allow me then I wouldn't get this big house and then go bankrupt when the rate goes up. Maybe these low income people are wrong for wanting what they can't afford, but they wouldn't get the house if the regulations don't allow them to.

Your conclusion is very right. The present mess is nothing but the creation of greed, financial mismanagement and habit to splurge.

It was greedy lenders, and nieve borrowers who caused this financial crisis. The banks should never have lent money to people who couldn't pay it back, and people should have been buying homes they could afford instead of homes that cost way more than they should have been buying. This was in great part the lenders fault, but most of those people who bought those expensive houses had to know they could not really afford them. This crisis was caused by greed, pure and simple, on both the buyers and the lenders faults, and of course the does include the flippers too.

Everything that happened is what caused this problem. But those subprime mortgages to people who had no business buying a house are still a part of it, if not all of it. As you probably know, lenders were labeled as racist if they didn't offer the mortgages - that did not require down payments, not credit checks, nor income verification. Now, in the old days when one was looking for a house, the real estate agent or even your own bank or mortgage company could offer advice about what you could or could not afford. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. And, frankly, there should be some kind of classes for people who are going from renters to homeowners, so they understand the responsibility they are taking on, how a mortgage works, and how long you can legally go without paying a mortgage. There should also be some kind of counseling about what is wise about how much you can honestly pay. I know people today whose mortgages are 1/2 of their monthly earnings. That's downright stupid - for the person who took the mortgage and the company that financed. I don't think, though, that we can point to any one thing as THE reason we're having country-wide financial woes.

Hi lloydanthony, Thank you for the discussion and I do agree with you, no matter what the goverment do they always blames the small people and covere up therir own greediness. Tamara

Well my family is a low income family and this makes me pretty mad that we are getting blamed for the financial crisis. How the heck can we be responsible for the crisis? Us low income family's are always trying to find a better paying job and getting no where with it. So we work our butts off for less pay but yet they are blaming us. Well I guess they have to put the blame on someone besides themselves, huh? We wouldn't want the government to take responsibility for their own actions now would we?

There is a good point here with the word GREED. But along with this is the fact that some average people were cajoled into getting "the American Dream" by slick sellers and easy credit. Why do we need so many credit cards? Why do we not do research on what we buy and how much it really costs. Sub-prime lending let many people with less than good credit get homes. They were fooled into thinking that by the time the rates went up their circumstances like salary, life style would increase as in the "American Dream". When they did not get the raises fast enough or even were laid off they could not afford the rising costs of the homes. And why the credit card industry decided to give credit to unqualified applicants. I remember car dealerships selling vehicles to people who really could not afford them. My husband and I bought a truck, traded our old car in and made the down payment. We we went to pickup the new truck we were told, "Oh, your payments will be $150 a month more." This was not what they told us at first. This happened to many people. Hook the customer into a contract that they can't get out of, presto-- you are stuck. Then there are a lot of people who want things they can't afford. They put a $4000 big screen tv on credit. Then the credt market dries up cause too many people are living on credit. We are all at fault. I dont have any credit cards. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy. Too bad the government doesn't work that way. But I have to "rescue" our economic woes? Do I really want the government to give 192 Million dollars to rum producers in Puerto Rico or 128 million dollars for car racing tracks? Why does no one complain about all this crap.

In my opinion, the people that signed the mortgage loans that they couldn't afford, but simply cause they "qualified" for it are the culprits to this current foreclosure issue. Yes, the lenders created programs to accomodate literally any kind of income or not and they should be help accountable, but at the same time, no one forced borrowers to sign a 3 year adjustible loan. They did it simply out of greediness, selfishness and plain old stupidity - not ignorance, as it could have found out about it - but plain old stupidity. THe fact that this loan was only 2% interest for the first year - come on .... does the phrase "to good to be true" Or "for the first year..." not ring even the slightest bell here? And the word "adjustible", sorry but they all knew what it meant, they just didn't bother to accept it. These cheap rates started about 4 years ago. last year being hte first of the increase years after the first 3 years of low rate. Based on this, we have another year to go with massive foreclosures. 2010 will be the earliest we can start to recover from this. By then, all the adjustibles, the "no income", the "stated Income" and other greedy loans made by the lenders will run their sweet little "if you're stupid enough to sign this loan" terms and things can start to settle. The banks problems are from the lenders also, but at the same time, the banks should have been paying more attention to what they were buying. THe Mortage lenders made these "a loan for everyone" programs, buyers signed without bothering educate themselves as to what they were signing. Once funded, the lenders take batches of loans - in the millions of dollars per batch, and the banks will buy "batches" from the lenders - for instance, Bank A buys $1 million dollar batch from Lender A. THey buy another batch from LEnder B, and another from Lender A again. Now the lenders have made their money, paid their brokers and all have a huge wallet bulging. THe banks "income" is from mortgage interest. If no one can make the payment, there is no interest income for the banks. If no income for the bank, the bank can't pay their bills... and they go under as we have been seeing. The banks should have had criteria for the loans they bought, but they didn't, they just bought up a dollar amount "batch". THat is their fault, why should we have to bail them out for being stupid and selfish and lazy? Any employee done that and they'd been fired. So... the lenders started it with their "any one qualifies as we have a program for anyone" - they are at fault first - greediness - why should we bail them out! THey got more than the rest of us will ever see in a life time! The buyers are at fault second as they didn't bother to pay attention and understand what they were signing - plain stupidity - why should we (those of us who can't afford a home) have to bail them out cause they were stupid? THen the banks just bought "whatever" batch of loans and didn't bother to look at what they were buying, stupid and lazy so why should we bail them out? Why? Cause there doesn't appear to be any other way. IT is such a huge comglomerate that the little guy always pays because the big guy has them by the throats. A bank's main source of income is interest on loans. OUr money in savings and such is not in danger as first it is FDIC insured and second...that money was not involved with the purchase of loans - at least to a point. Kind of like 2 sides of a bank. The "personal" side and the "business" side. I have had expereince in both the banking and mortgage areas and they both stink! I'm just to honest to be in either of them so I quit.

Forgot to mention - at least in my area in California.. the affordable homes, the ones that the "low income minorities" can afford are still in tack and holding their own. Where the problem is, the property values sky-rocketd. Put that with the low low interest rates and a person QUALIFIED for a $800,000 home for about $2500 a month payment - for the first 3 years. THen it ADJUSTED and went to $4500, then the next ADJUSTMENT went to $5,000. $50k-$60k income a year won't accomodate that anymore, but when they signed the loan, they QUALIFIED for that loan amount so they went and bought. What they didnt consider is that in a loan... there is a DTI - debt to income ratio. This is the income vs.debt calcuation for QUALIFING for the loan. 45% debt is the most they usually go. THey say only 45% of your GROSS pay can go toward "bills expenses" which included the mortage. But what they don't include - is - they use GROSS income to qualify - but we dont' live on our gross, we live on our NET - Problem #1. Second, the balance of the 45% is 55% and that is what they say goes toward "living expsneses" like car insurance, health ins, food, utilities, any loan that is not on your credit report, medical expense, increase to food and gas prices while no increase in salary, clothes, home items - you name it.... THese things go up in price and we pay but no more comes in. People use their credit cards and that increases the monthly payment but the lower payment was what was used to qualify. Now with the rates ADJUSTING and going up and the price of gas and food and so many other thigns going up, they dont have enough income. So they can't pay the mortgage, property values have fallen, so now they owe more on the house than it is worth (appraised for) and they can't sell, so they foreclose. What you QUALIFY for and what you can AFFORD are two totally different things - like comparing apples to zebras. Buyers went by what they QUALIFIED for not what they could AFFORD. Their own stupid fault Example, finally after many many many years, I was in the position that I could buy a house. I went to the mortage company and did a pre-approval for loan amount so I would know how what the purchase price I should be looking at. I qualified for $425,000 purchase price/loan amount!! But I did my own math and I could not afford the payment on that $425k - I can only afford the payment on $200,000 purchase price! I looked but $200k is in the dumpy areas of town cause property values are still high there. I'll stay in an apartment before living in those areas. THe ones that were in my QUALIFIED for range are the ones that were sold few years ago at $700k-$1 million and the property value doesn't accomodate that now, so they fell half value - now they are at $400-$500k sale price- neither of which I can afford! Here's the kicker: here i am ready and able to buy in this "depression of 2008",with massive foreclosures causing huge banks to all but go under.............. and I can't afford a home.

I do believe that the Americans who took out loans knowing that they did not have the means with which to repay them should also be held accountable in this mess. While it is true that the financial institutions were not prudent in their business practices and lent money to people who did not have jobs, lent money on inflated appraisals, and made home-equity loans on equity that did not actually exist, the people who accepted these loans must also be held responsible. A major part of the problem is people living beyond their means, meaning that the majority of American people and businesses are dependent on credit for day-to-day living/operation.

Did you try to at least visit Department of Social and Health Services recently? Have you tried helping a friend get a free medical, financial or food assistance from the US government? One time, I went to DSHS with a friend. I witnessed some of these clients who are applying for free medical, financial or food assistance at DSHS are not even qualified to get these free assistance from the government was able to get the benefits. There are something wrong with the system. A lot of people abuse the governments funding for the low income families for free health care and financial assistance. So. Yes, in a way, there's a blame with some of the people abusing the funds of the US government. Instead of looking for work, these people try to con the system in order to be a parasite for other people. Try visiting your local DSHS. Just observe the people there who are applying for assistance. And you will determine, that there are some people not even worthy to get the help from the government but are able to get it.